Posted tagged ‘advertising’

It has been a while since I have posted, but today I was inspired by GNC to write.

GNC has launched a new ad campaign called Beat Average. You can view it here.

I am impressed with this campaign for 4 reasons:

1. It has tremendous insight into consumer behavior and the reality of how we think and act. They are truly holding up a mirror to the bulk of the population.

2. They are buying time in very smart ways. I first saw it this morning as the ad that ran after I had played an on demand exercise video. I had just worked out and it was almost a reward / pat on the back for me that I was not average today. They understood me at that moment. Nicely timed.

3. The ad is very motivating. It is well written, filmed and edited.

4. They are launching this campaign in the middle of summer. Usually, we see the “you need to diet and exercise” ads all crammed together in January (post New Year’s resolution) or in May / June at the beginning of swimsuit season. GNC (who may have actually been late to the party for reasons beyond their control or actually made this a conscious decision) is not competing with all those other ads right now. So their’s stands out.

Nice job GNC. I may stroll over and get some Whey Protein Powder just to encourage such smart moves.

As an alum of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, I am admittedly biased towards their ratings, particularly when it comes to advertising and marketing. The school is known as “the marketing school.” So they had better know what they are talking about when it comes to rating Superbowl ads.

My friend Professor Tim Calkins gathers a student group each year to rate the ads. They use a strategic academic framework known as ADPLAN for their ratings. The acronym, developed by Kellogg School faculty, instructs viewers to grade ads based on Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification and Net equity.

And their picks? Volkswagen earned top marks for its “Beetle” and “Star Wars” ads, winning the seventh annual Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review. Other top-ranked advertisers for 2011 included Chrysler and Doritos, while Lipton Brisk, HomeAway and Hyundai ranked at the bottom of the much-anticipated Review.

You can see the full article and their ratings here. And I have to say that I agree with most of their ratings. For years, I have hated the Go Daddy executions and the Kellogg team gave them a D. And for some reason, I just do not ever get tired of the Etrade baby. I wonder when people will wear out on that one. (And check out the Etrade website where you can send your own baby mail – nice viral tie in by the Etrade team). What was your favorite? Let me know.

Ok, this post is a little off topic, but something that is really bothering me. And I am curious if this bothers anyone else or if I am alone in this.

More and more, I am seeing TV advertising where the food is animated. It is bad enough that the food is talking to us, but to make matters worse, they are talking to us about eating them. Shredded Wheat has animated squares that interact with the children who are going to eat them. M&M’s candy characters now realize they are going to be eaten and try to get away (M&M’s checkout ad). Chips Ahoy has cookies being grabbed from their everyday activities to be eaten.

The ads that really bother me are the ones with the chickens and the cows. For Chick-Fil-A, the cows encourage you to eat more chicken, inferring you should eat less meat. Denny’s ran an ad with chickens screaming in fear over a grand slam breakfast deal that included eggs (Denny’s Grand Slam Ad). McDonalds has their annual lent commercial featuring a singing wall fish asking the eater to give the fish back (this is last year’s version – I could not find the current iteration – McDonald’s Ad).

I am not a vegetarian or a PETA person, so please, let’s not go down that path (there are many pluses and minuses to that organization, but that is not the point of this discussion). But I really find it disturbing that advertisers think it acceptable to animate our food this way. The message, when taken literally and even not so literally, feels strange and almost cannibalistic. Seriously, if cows could talk to us, do you think we would eat them? I would think not.

So at the risk of inviting comments that will make fun of my views; I cautiously ask, am I alone in this?